What goes up, comes down

I’ve seen plenty of film of the Space Shuttle blasting off. I’ve even seen footage from a camera strapped to the side of a shuttle at lift-off. Until today, I’d never seen a film showing a Solid Rocket Booster’s fall back to Earth.

The images of the shuttle taking off and accelerating towards orbit are pretty routine. The latter half of the film, from the last glimpse of the Shuttle – still attached to the external fuel tank – carrying on into orbit while the booster begins the long, long fall earthwards, is one of the most awe-inspring film sequences I’ve ever seen.

[Via MetaFilter]